4 comments:

What does it mean when people ask that question? “Do you do it professionally?” “Do you earn your living by it?” “Are you, like, really, really good?” Is Thomas Kinkade more of an artist than any garden-variety kid?

I think what it probably means is that they don’t do art, can’t imagine doing it, and so regard anyone doing it as in some way set apart. I think.

MICHAEL: That's a great question: What does that question mean? I answered it here for myself--(making art is not crucial to how I explore, understand, and express myself)--but I think you're right, that's not what people are usually asking.

Sometimes it's clear they mean something like, "Are you better at that than I am because you're trained in and consistently practice art-making, and therefore I don't need to feel inferior because you are a different kind of person than I am?"

And when people mean that, I feel weird because compared to my friends who are artists, I'm not (trained or consistent), and I kind of wriggle and say, "I'm not really an artist but I make art a lot."Maybe I should just say yes.

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